Containers for incubating living cells and tissues (e.g., Petri dishes) are employed for many types of biological experiments. Certain experiments grow cells or other biological materials on microscope slides, so that the materials can be inspected or analyzed using a microscope. The containers available for incubating living cells or tissues, however, can be inconvenient when used for slide-based experiments.
Slide-based biological experiments can involve placing a standard glass microscope slide bearing a biological specimen in a conventional incubation container (e.g., a Petri dish), with the slide being covered with a fluid or a reagent. The container can then be incubated for a period of time, for example so that the biological specimen on the slide can grow or otherwise change over time. After incubation, a scientist may wish to remove the microscope slide from the container to examine it using a microscope. Removing the slide from the container is difficult, however, because the slide tends to adhere to the bottom of the container. The adhesion can be attributed to the electrostatic interactions between the positive ends of the polar water molecules and the negatively charged oxygen atoms in the materials forming the glass of the container and the microscope slide. It is particularly difficult to remove a microscope slide from the container bottom when fluid is present. Furthermore, when the scientist endeavors to remove the adherent slide from the container bottom, the forces applied to the slide can cause the specimen to be disturbed, so that the accuracy of the microscopic examination is impaired. With excessive force, the microscope slide can break, with the potential for physical injury to the scientist and the potential for interfering with the overall experiment.
There exists a need in the art, therefore, for an incubation container conveniently sized and shaped for scientific studies that can support a microscope slide for slide-based experiments. Desirably, the microscope slide can be easily inserted into and removed from the container without disturbing any specimen that the slide supports.